The landscape of environmental influencer marketing has changed dramatically from the early days of simple product mentions and celebrity endorsements.
Image provided: Influencer marketing has evolved over the years.
Today, significant marketing budgets are allocated to influencer marketing, a marketing discipline that is increasingly being spent every year.
The evolution of the influencer marketing industry has completely changed the face of content creation and brand-creator partnerships, not only giving creators more autonomy over the content they produce and the revenue they earn, but also opening brands to new opportunities and markets and ensuring influencer investments are both measurable and meaningful.
Influencer marketing now includes a wide variety of creative content, from text to video, gifs, memes, music, and voiceovers. Influencer marketing platform, Humanz, now refers to influencers as creators, as many of them are highly skilled brand professionals whose content helps build brands through their loyal and engaged followers.
Many creators on the platform use influencer marketing to supplement their income or in some cases as their primary source of income.
Trusted creators from the Humanz platform benefit from a range of tangible rewards as they contribute positive ROI to brands, from exclusive access to free products and discounts to monthly brand ambassador retainer fees, content usage fees and affiliate payments when their followers purchase their content.
South Africa’s high unemployment rate of 35.3% is likely to prompt many young South Africans to seek alternative employment opportunities.
From influencer to creator
The shift from an ‘influencer’ to a ‘creator’ mindset is a particularly interesting shift, not only making the creator more confident in their own gifts, but also setting a new and more productive tone for marketers to create potential partnerships.
For example, where fake followers, wrong product placement and endorsements, and fraud lead to ‘influencer fatigue’ among users, influencer marketing platforms offer analytics tools that allow brands to verify their authenticity. From an influencer’s perspective, it’s equally important to have peace of mind about the brand you choose to work with.
A creative shift in mindset makes room for more authentic relationships with brands that consumers know and can trust. And, when it comes to brand trust, consumers have made themselves abundantly clear – the creator’s opinion carries more weight. A recent study found that 63% of consumers surveyed are more likely to trust what influencers say about brands than what brands say about themselves.
In addition, the introduction of the Social Media Code of Conduct in South Africa, which regulates brands and influencers, has helped to ensure full transparency to audiences, holding both brands and creators accountable to each other and the public for the content they post and promote. .
Bottom line – creators facilitate sales
The popularity of social commerce has increased over the past few quarters – indeed, the South African Social Commerce Market Intelligence Report predicts that the sector will grow by 107.8% annually to reach $1,066.2m by 2022, with constant growth expected in between. And 2028.
Following the examples and successes of celebrities – such as Amanda du Pont, who used social media to gain awareness and launched a campaign for her new skin care and beauty line LeLive – many creators, and consequently brands, are realizing the power of the power. They sell through their social media profiles.
From a brand perspective, the ability to measure the return on investment of these interventions and track the customer journey from creative content to sales is no longer a nice-to-have, but a must-have.
Creators can also track how their posts are performing against campaign objectives, giving brands a clearer picture of how their influencer investments are performing.
